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In our emails, sent once or twice a week, you'll receive:
• alerts on new threats to Pennsylvania's environment
• opportunities to join other Pennsylvanians on urgent actions
• updates on the decisions that impact our environment
• resources to help you create a cleaner, greener future

As the dust settles on the budget debate in Harrisburg, concern continued to rise across the Commonwealth over a language inserted into the state budget that intends to give of Bucks and Montgomery county residents some sort of moratorium from gas drilling—while continuing to leave the rest of state’s county officials hamstrung when it comes to regulating gas drilling in their communities.

Four of Pennsylvania’s largest citizen-based environmental organizations released their joint “Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Scorecard” today, giving each state senator and representative an environmental grade based on their votes related to Act 13, the omnibus Marcellus Shale legislation signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett on February 14.

Environmental organizations held protests outside the offices of three State Senators who recently voted for Marcellus Shale gas drilling legislation (HB 1950). State lawmakers approved HB 1950 last week which contains provisions that overturn local zoning ordinances and forces townships to allow gas operations in residential and all other parts of the municipality.

As the Pennsylvania state House takes up contentious Marcellus Shale legislation today, the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center released a new study uncovering environmental violations by gas drillers in Pennsylvania over the last four years. The study shows that Marcellus Shale gas operators continue to violate Pennsylvania’s cornerstone environmental laws on a regular basis – laws meant to protect the Commonwealth’s natural heritage and the public’s health.

In a move supported by the gas and oil industry, the Pennsylvania state Senate and House today voted, by a relatively slim margin, in favor of Marcellus Shale legislation that environmental groups, local officials, public health experts and tens of thousands of residents have opposed for months.

As U.S. EPA held a public hearing today in Pittsburgh, PennEnvironment praised the agency’s proposed rules to curb air pollution from oil and gas operations as part of an urgently needed response to the public health threats posed by hydraulic fracturing.

Today, the statewide environmental organization PennEnvironment applauded U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the air pollution regulations that the agency proposed today, calling them a step forward in the fight to clean up air pollution in Pennsylvania and nationwide.